Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 43: The Second Checkpoint (Part 1)

Under Chen Hao’s relentless assault, the first checkpoint of Weihu Fortress was swiftly overrun. Chen Hao and the 30 soldiers led by You Tong suffered no casualties, while ten bandits from Weihu Fortress were killed by Chen Hao’s iron staff. Another 58 bandits, intimidated by Chen Hao’s overwhelming force, chose to kneel and surrender. Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fort, and Wen Da, the second-in-command, fled quickly. Since Chen Hao was preoccupied with hunting down the other bandits, Fan Chong, Wen Da, and the remaining bandits from the first checkpoint ultimately escaped into the second checkpoint of Weihu Fort. After Liu Ji led Hua Xiong and the others into the first checkpoint of Weihu Fortress, the first thing Liu Ji did was collect 10 points of soul value from the 10 bandits’ gruesome corpses. He then lavished praise on Chen Hao, noting that the effortless capture of the first checkpoint was almost entirely due to Chen Hao’s efforts alone. “Chen Hao, you deserve the top credit for taking the first checkpoint of Weihu Fortress so easily this time! That blow with your staff was truly impressive—you shattered that thick wooden door with a single strike. But you’ll need to be more careful when charging into battle in the future. There are plenty of bandit archers out there, and if you rush in recklessly all by yourself and something goes wrong, our lord will regret it to the core. Even a hundred Weihu Fortresses wouldn’t be worth as much to me, Liu Ji, as you, Chen Hao, are all by yourself!” Liu Ji said, patting Chen Hao on the arm. Chen Hao grinned broadly and said, “Don’t worry, Lord. Those bandits’ weak arrows pose no danger to me. Besides, I’m now wearing the precious armor you bestowed upon me—even if an ordinary arrow hits me, it won’t hurt me one bit.” Next, Han Tao, accompanied by two squads totaling 20 soldiers from the makeshift camp at the foot of Weihu Fortress, arrived at the first checkpoint. They escorted the 58 captured bandits, along with the seized weapons and armor, back to the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain. Liu Ji then left Liu Pi and 10 soldiers to guard the first checkpoint of the captured Weihu Fortress. Liu Ji, Hua Xiong, Chen Hao,Yue Yi, You Tong, Gong Du, and 90 fully armed soldiers then advanced with great force toward the next checkpoint of Weihu Fortress. Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fort, and Wen Da, his second-in-command, fled in disarray back to the fort’s second checkpoint. They immediately ordered their bandits to block the wooden gate of the second checkpoint with stones and sandbags. Fan Chong, his face etched with terror, said to Wen Da, “‘Second-in-command, how can this government army have so many fierce generals? That commander just now was far too strong—he smashed that thick wooden gate to smithereens with a single blow. Can we still hold our ground?’ ” Wen Da’s expression was equally grim. He clenched his teeth and said, “Big Brother, the two captains we sent to Yanwang Ridge have already left via the secret passage behind the mountain. As long as we can hold out until reinforcements from Yanwang Ridge arrive, we’ll definitely be able to defend Weihu Fortress!” Fan Chong pondered for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, “Let’s gather all our remaining men at the second checkpoint here. If we still can’t hold it, we’ll retreat through the secret passage on the back of the mountain. As long as we’re all safe, with our skills, it won’t be hard for us to rise again in the east.” Wen Da hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Then let’s do as you say, Big Brother. If we really can’t hold the line, we won’t even take the gold and silver from the stronghold. As long as we’re all safe, we can always get our hands on mountains of gold and silver later.” Now, only about 300 bandits remained in Weihu Fortress. Fan Chong and Wen Da gathered more than 270 of them at the second checkpoint, and the two of them stayed there as well, hoping to hold off Liu Ji and his men at that position. When Liu Ji and his party arrived at Weihu Fortress’s second checkpoint, they saw that its location was almost identical to that of the first checkpoint—it too was built between two steep peaks, with a stone wall over four meters high and a wooden gate at its base. Chen Hao, who had just been lavishly praised by Liu Ji, once again volunteered to lead the charge, hoping to repeat his previous tactic of smashing open the wooden gate of the checkpoint. However, Liu Ji shook his head and said to Chen Hao, ““You’ve learned your lesson. The bandits suffered heavy losses at the first checkpoint because you smashed open the wooden gate in the stone wall. This time, they’ll definitely have the wooden gate at the second checkpoint sealed shut. Even if you smash it to pieces, you won’t be able to enter the second checkpoint so easily.” Chen Hao scratched his head and said, “Then I’ll charge through the stone wall and help our lord capture this checkpoint as well.” Liu Ji thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “Chen Hao, You Tong, I’m still assigning you three squads of soldiers. Watch out for the bandits’ arrows, rolling logs, and boulders.” At that moment, Yue Yi suggested to Liu Ji, “My Lord, why not let me and Gong Du go forward to provide backup for Chen Hao and You Tong? Both You Tong and I are skilled archers; we can suppress the bandits on the second checkpoint from a hundred paces away.” None of the 150 soldiers currently under Liu Ji’s command were archers, but the six summoned generals under his command, along with Cheng Yi, could all serve as archers. Among them, Le Yi, Gong Du, and Cheng Yi were the most skilled with the bow, while Chen Hao’s archery was simply not worth mentioning—in terms of accuracy alone, he wasn’t even as good as Liu Ji, who had only been practicing archery for a few days! Hearing Le Yi’s words, Liu Ji nodded and said, “Then let Le Yi and Gong Du move forward to lend a hand and provide archery cover for Chen Hao, You Tong, and the others.” Chen Hao and You Tong immediately led the 30 soldiers from earlier, carrying four wooden ladders, and charged toward the second checkpoint of Weihu Fort. Yue Yi and Gong Du followed them in the charge, but the two stopped about a hundred paces from the second checkpoint, drew their bows and arrows, and took aim at the bandits stationed above the checkpoint. Both Le Yi and Gong Du were armed with one-shi bows, with an effective range exceeding one hundred paces. This time, Chen Hao did not charge forward alone; instead, he and You Tong moved toward the second checkpoint while carrying the four wooden ladders. Of the 30 soldiers, 16 were assigned to carry the ladders—each holding a ladder in one hand and using a shield to protect their head and upper body with the other—while the remaining 12 soldiers raised their shields and spread out around the four ladders. At the second checkpoint, Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fort, and Wen Da, the second-in-command, saw Chen Hao leading his men charging toward them once again. They immediately ordered the dozen or so remaining archers at Weihu Fort to fire their arrows. Wen Da, the second-in-command—who was a fairly skilled archer himself—personally took up a seven-dou bow, nocked an arrow, and fired toward the outside of the checkpoint. “Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—” More than ten arrows flew toward Chen Hao and his men. Although Chen Hao and You Tong weren’t holding shields, the weapons in their hands proved even more effective than shields when they parried the arrows to the left and right. Most of the arrows aimed at the soldiers were blocked by their shields as well. However, one soldier carrying a wooden ladder was struck in the thigh by an arrow. He let out a cry of “Ouch!” and dropped the ladder, clutching his wounded thigh as he collapsed to the ground; the shield he held in his other hand also slipped from his grasp. In accordance with Liu Ji’s earlier orders to these soldiers—that if anyone was injured during the assault on the pass, the others should do their best to drag their wounded comrades to a safe area in the rear—as soon as they saw someone injured,two other shield-bearing soldiers nearby hurried over to drag him to safety. But immediately afterward, another arrow struck the fallen soldier, piercing right through his skull, and his screams ceased abruptly.